Visitors step back in time during tours of Palmer Park log cabin

Jun. 30, 2013

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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Visitors walk around the Palmer Log Cabin that was open for tours during Log Cabin Day at Palmer Park, Sunday, June 30, 2013. The cabin was built by Senator Thomas Palmer for his wife Lizzie Palmer in 1885 and in 1894, the Senator donated the first 120 acres that would become Palmer Park. / Diane Weiss/Detroit Free Press

Justin Finkel, 18, of Detroit juggles to entertain the crowd at the daylong fest.

Members of the Chelsea House Orchestra perform during Log Cabin Day at Palmer Park, Sunday, June 30, 2013. The log cabin was built by Senator Thomas Palmer for his wife Lizzie Palmer in 1885 and in 1894, the Senator donated the first 120 acres that would become Palmer Park. / Diane Weiss/Detroit Free Press

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Hundreds of visitors took a step back in time today touring the log cabin in Detroit’s Palmer Park rarely open to the public.

The house — once belonging to Sen. Thomas Palmer and his wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Merrill Palmer — was completed in 1887 in what was then a rural area and is thought to be the last authentic log cabin left in the city.

“Cabins like this don’t last,” said Greg Piazza, an architectural historian. “There’s usually no one to take care of them. The land around them gets bought for commercial purposes.”

Rochelle Lento, president of People for Palmer Park, a nonprofit organization working revitalize the park, said the building’s roof and foundation need work and holes need to be fixed where critters like raccoons and mice are getting in.

A report from the city evaluating the structural integrity of the building will help determine how much they will need for renovations, she said. In the last year, the group has raised about $10,000.

“We want people to experience this little bit of history and really just to enjoy Palmer Park,” Lento said.

Other changes have been made to the park recently, she said. A baseball field has been restored, 700 apple and pear trees were planted just over a year ago, and a splash park is expected to go in as early as this year.

Pauline Robinson, 83, of Detroit came to see the cabin, located off Merrill Plaisance Street near Woodward and West McNichols, with her grandchildren Sunday. She said it was a way for young people to see what was in the park long before they got there.

“I think it’s wonderful that they’re preserving this,” she said.

About 500 people were expected to tour the log cabin that once served as a retreat for the Palmers and a place where they entertained dignitaries.